Citizen Science Programs

Watching birds is more popular than ever! Tens of thousands of Canadians share their energy, skill, and bird observations through Bird Studies Canada's bird surveys. These "Citizen Scientists" provide a tremendous service by volunteering their time to track the health of bird populations.

Research and Conservation

Using data from our targeted research initiatives and Citizen Science programs, and in collaboration with conservation partners, our scientists monitor bird population trends, investigate declines, and recommend actions to protect the health of ecosystems we all depend on.

Help Us Conserve Canada’s Birds

You can play an important role in conserving Canada's wild birds! Bird Studies Canada supporters provide charitable donations as well as making
valuable Citizen Science contributions. Our nationwide programs are focused on the highest-priority conservation needs for birds.

Bird migration monitoring provides baseline information on
avian populations which is crucial for bird conservation. The
Canadian Migration Monitoring Network - Réseau canadien de
surveillance des migrations (CMMN-RCSM) defines migration
monitoring as any standardized program of sampling migrants, by
capture or observation, that is repeated daily and annually and
has the capacity to contribute scientifically meaningful data
that further the understanding of bird migration ecology in
Canada.

Accurate knowledge of population status and change is
fundamental to species conservation, if scarce resources are to
be allocated wisely. The primary program for monitoring
population change for most North American landbirds is the
Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). However, many parts of Canada are
relatively inaccessible, and few birders are available to count
birds in these northern regions. Consequently, the BBS provides
very little information on population trends of birds breeding
in the vast boreal forest and other parts of northern Canada.
This limitation of BBS was recognized by the Partners in Flight
North American Landbird Conservation Plan whose recommendations
included "continue improvement of migration monitoring to meet
information needs of many raptors and the large group of
northern nesting Neotropical migrants that are largely
inaccessible for monitoring both in the breeding or wintering
seasons" (Rich et al. 2004:29.
http://www.partnersinflight.org/cont_plan/). The CMMN-RCSM
was formed in 1998 primarily to fill that gap.